Doctor Blind didn't think Example would be included in our dance number 1's - he'll be pleasantly surprised.

 

Forgot there were so many so many rap influenced dance hits, 2010 was a bit like 1990 in that respect. Won't Go Quietly I would say was one of my favourite Example songs, great uplifting tune, I would say its a bit indie dance influenced with the 'oh, oh' backing vocal in the verses, its notable too there is some dubstep wobble bass in it before the chorus, before it became popular in the charts.

 

Naughty Boy presents Wiley feat. Emeli Sandé - Never Be Your Woman (Shy FX Remix)

 

 

Date 7th Mar 2010

2 Weeks

Official Chart Run 8-14-19-25-39-43-61-74-x [8 weeks]

 

 

After only a few entries we welcome back Wiley again for his second appearance in this thread. Having started the year off with the Chew Fu collaboration 'Take That' which made it to #20, he only two months later ended up with a top 10 hit. It was in fact only his second appearance in the top 10, following his major breakthrough hit 'Wearing My Rolex' from 2008. However it isn't all about Wiley and he's only one of many names behind the song. Some background on him can be read in his previous entry. He gives two verses about his woman troubles though also taking some time to flex. He didn't take any time to bother to appear in the music video however.

 

The song takes its main inspiration from 'Your Woman', the 1997 #1 hit from White Town, with parts of the instrumentation borrowed including the signature trumpet sample, itself taken from the 1932 recording "My Woman" by Lew Stone & his Monseigneur Band (it would also go on to be used in the Dua Lipa song 'Love Again'). If that wasn't an obvious enough nostalgia bait we also have the chorus lifted from the song, this time being sung by Emeli Sandé as the hook. The lyrics remain unchanged despite them now being sung by a woman, flipping the meaning of the song somewhat. At this time Emeli was still yet to establish herself as a big name, with this being her second guest feature on a rapper's single - following 'Diamond Rings' with Chip the previous year. It would be in over a year's time before she got her first solo hit in 'Heaven'.

 

The song was also the introduction to Naughty Boy - although the song was marketed as a Wiley single the confusing crediting gave him the lead billing as 'presenting' Wiley, and his name being more of a footnote in the cover art. Shahid Khan was born in Watford to Pakistani parents and became Naughty Boy having won £44k on Deal or No Deal to spend on his home recording studio. He had a close professional relationship with Emeli Sandé having co-produced her debut album as well as having produced the aforementioned 'Diamond Rings' and this song.

 

However it was for the most part not his production talents that radio listeners and the general public were hearing as it was a remix version by Shy FX that became the hit. The

is more of a subdued track and for me clearly lacks the punch that was needed to make the song a hit. Shy FX is one of the most respected producers in drum n' bass and jungle music having previously had a couple of chart hits, and he gives the track a breakbeat rhythm which does suit it better. Though overall it is still a rather inessential track, not the first song I'd choose to listen to of any of the artists involved. It has held up reasonably well for a mid-tier hit with 7.7m Spotify plays making it over 7 times more remembered than 'Take That'.

Never heard the non-Shy FX version of that before, had no idea the popular version was a remix!

 

Also has to be some kind of record from single release to album release? Hotel Cabana came out 3 and a half years after the single!

Inna - Hot

 

 

Date 21st Mar 2010

4 Weeks

Official Chart Run 8-6-9-7-10-15-17-26-36-51-66-73-74-x [13 weeks]

 

 

We now get to the first female-led dance track to reach the top of the dance chart which was also the first track to crossover in the short-lived Romanian dance trend. The song was written and produced by Play & Win (a Romanian trio) who would be regular collaborators of Inna (Elena Alexandra Apostoleanu). Inna started off in the industry under her middle name recording pop-rock and also made a failed attempt to enter Eurovision, but later switched to being a dance vocalist having been introduced to P&W by her manager.

 

Originally released in Romania in August 2008 as her breakout hit, it eventually made its way to Europe the following year and we then finally got it in 2010 courtesy of All Around The World picking it up. This was also the time period of the infamous "UK Radio Edit", for we seemingly had shorter attention spans than Europe, with a whole minute being shaved off the song for release (a video for this edit doesn't seem to be on YouTube so here's an audio

).

 

The production is inspired by trance and electro house with a standout pulsing synth line but otherwise being fairly minimal. The focal lyrics were criticised however for their repetitiveness and making very little sense; "fly like you do it like you're high like you do it like you try like you do it like a woman" and indeed the song's title does not feature in the lyrics. Regardless her smooth and sensual vocal must have helped the track sell. The song still holds up well today largely due to her impressive vocal performance. Inna only managed two follow-up hits in the UK - "Amazing" (#14) and "Sun Is Up" (#15) however she still remains popular in Romania with her latest single "Up" having become her 5th #1 hit there. AATW also gave her debut album of the same title a belated release (#32).

Hot is a BOP!

 

 

Kelis - Acapella

 

 

Date 18th Apr 2010

2 Weeks

Official Chart Run 5-7-9-10-10-12-22-32-41-47-54-53-55-74-x [14 weeks]

 

 

Kelis had a fair amount of success in the 00s as an RnB singer most notably with her run of four top 5 hits in 2004 [Milkshake, Not In Love, Trick Me, Millionaire]. She decided to go in a more dance direction for the new decade however working with man of the moment Mr David Guetta [it will be the first of many appearances for him in this thread] for "Acapella".

 

Perhaps ironically for its song title it is a song that is full of life and very synth-tastic all-throughout. However this matches the song's theme, written about her newborn son that clearly fulfilled her life the same way a symphonic orchestra enhances the power of a vocal ('a cappella' being Latin for 'without instruments'). The child's father was rapper Nas but at the time of his birth she had filed for divorce and was involved in a custody battle until 2018, when she also claimed she was abused in the relationship. She is now with photographer Mike Mora and has 2 children with him.

 

"Acapella" would be her last proper hit as a leading artist, but she will appear in this thread again as a feature. The song has managed to hold up well amongst her discography in the streaming era currently being her 7th-most popular on Spotify with 14m streams. Another song relying on this metaphor will be making an appearance in this thread later on.

I remember disliking 'Hot' at the time but it grew on me a lot over the years! Big up the summer '10 Romanian dance relevancy (especially 'Stereo Love' :heart:)

 

There was actually a question on Pointless tonight about UK top 40 hits with 'Hot' in the title :o I completely forgot about INNA but did manage to get a pointless answer with Avril Lavigne.

 

'Acapella' is another one that I've grown to appreciate more over the years! Kelis always sells songs with a lot of personality and I love those pulsating synths.

Criminal that Kelis has never had a #1! Acapella isn't my favourite of hers but it's still a decent tune, I agree with Jade it's grown on me a lot over the years, I probably failed to appreciate it much at the time.

Roll Deep feat. Jodie Connor - Good Times

 

 

Date 2nd May 2010

4 Weeks

Official Chart Run 1-1-1-3-9-14-30-37-41-46-57-52-56-68-65-x [15 weeks]

 

 

For the third time already we have Wiley on top of the dance chart this time as part of the Roll Deep collective who also had the first dance track to reach #1 in the official chart in the 2010s. 29 rappers have been associated with Roll Deep at some point but joining Wiley for this track were Breeze, Brazen and Scratchy. The track was produced by David Dawood and was one of three chart hits he was behind. The other two were for Jodie Connor who off the back of delivering the hook to this song had two minor follow-ups - 'Now Or Never' with a guest rap from Wiley reached #14 before 'Bring It' with help from Tinchy Stryder limped in at #37. A third single featuring Busta Rhymes ('Take You There') was released but failed to make any impact whatsoever which led to her planned debut album never seeing the light of day. No real loss there as those tracks were too generic sounding even for the time.

 

The track was typical of the rap 'club banger' type that we'd get a lot around this time and with production that no serious rapper would associate themselves with now (Wiley quickly disowned this era when this sort of thing stopped being trendy). It sounds rather dated a decade on but did its job well at the time being a tune to have a bit of a party to. The hook is well written for the vibe of letting go and having a good night out. 'Good Times' led Roll Deep's 4th album 'Winner Stays On' and was their most commercial record yet but despite two big hit singles the album was a flop entering at #55. We will hear from Roll Deep again in this thread shortly.

 

Whilst this remained at #1 Pendulum scored a top 5 hit with 'Watercolour' which has held up a lot better..

The track was typical of the rap 'club banger' type that we'd get a lot around this time and with production that no serious rapper would associate themselves with now

 

Apart from Bad Boy Chiller Crew of course, if they can be counted as 'serious' lol

Oh 'Good Times' is soooo nostalgic for me! My dad was actually on to that song before me - he asked if I knew the "high street bopping song" and I had no idea what he was on about, fast forward a couple of weeks and it was #1 and people would be singing the chorus a lot at school. It's still a huge guilty pleasure for me even now despite being obviously dated - very carefree *.*

Dizzee Rascal - Dirtee Disco

 

 

Date 30th May 2010

1 Week

Official Chart Run 1-4-12-22-35-41-47-61-62-66-x [10 weeks]

 

 

For a short period around the turn of the decade Dizzee Rascal was one of the biggest names in British music after having switched his sound to a commercial hip-house style. Following three consecutive #1s in 2008-9 he had the most memorable performance at the 2010 BRIT Awards by collaborating with Florence + The Machine for a mash-up of his "Dirtee Cash" and their "You've Got the Love", which promptly became a #2 hit. Once again with the intentional misspelling of 'dirty' he soon came back with "Dirtee Disco" for the deluxe edition of "Tongue N Cheek".

 

The song sampled The Staple Singers' "I'll Take You There" (1972) and featured uncredited vocals from Daniel Pearce (formerly of One True Voice). As the title suggests it is a disco throwback with a light house beat and lyrics about having a good time on a night out. Lyrically rather similar to his previous #1 'Holiday' but it would briefly continue to work for him. Despite the song making #1 it had a very short chart run and failed to reach the year's top 100 sellers - it would have to be one of the most forgotten #1 hits of the 21st century now and clearly only made #1 because of his name power and also from Radio 1 spamming it in the run up to its release. It is a track I did enjoy a bit at the time but not one I revisit now as it's nothing special compared to his previous 3 #1s. Dizzee would have one more #1 hit with the World Cup tie-in song "Shout".

 

Whilst this and 'Good Times' sat at #1 Edward Maya was in the top 10 with 'Stereo Love' which would eventually go on to outsell them both.

Absolutely hideous song.

I wonder how much Dizzee regrets that song being part of his discography now :kink: (I do actually quite like it but it's certainly a bit naff objectively x)

Good Times is sooo dated but nostalgic and so I still love it, remember it been played a lot at the time.

 

Dirtee Disco on the other hand I don’t remember liking or even hearing much at all at the time, definitely a forgettable #1 on name power only if ever there was one. It’s grim anyway, lowlight in his discography.

 

 

Dizzee Rascal - Dirtee Disco

 

The song sampled The Staple Singers' "I'll Take You There" (1972)

 

I'm not sure it does - the only similarity between the two tracks is the lyrics 'I'll take you there'.

 

David Guetta & Chris Willis feat. Fergie & LMFAO - Gettin' Over You

 

 

Date 6th June 2010

2 Weeks

Official Chart Run 41-1-4-7-10-13-16-18-18-24-27-28-31-38-43-55-59-x [17 weeks]

 

 

David Guetta had just become the hottest producer on the planet after being one of the biggest hitmakers of 2009 so naturally a re-issue of the parent album "One Love" was in order. "Acapella" which he produced for Kelis ended up being whacked on the album too but this was considered to be the lead from the re-issue. The song started its life as an album track "Gettin' Over" with vocals solely performed by Chris Willis - the long-time collaborator of Guetta who'd also sang the hits "Love Don't Let Me Go" and "Love Is Gone". The song was originally written with The Black Eyed Peas in mind but Guetta decided to keep the song for himself. Fergie would end up making an appearance for the remix however sharing the vocal hook with Willis. She also provides the middle-eight featuring a "Boom Boom Pow" reference and an impressive long held vocal. LMFAO were also brought in for a guest rap and as this was 2010 it was of course about going out for a party, and party, and party even more than Boris did in lockdown so much that party stops sounding like a proper word.

 

The song itself was eerily similar to "Love Is Gone" but with slightly beefier production for the new decade, being the kind of electro-house that Guetta popularised himself with. It wouldn't be the last time Guetta shamelessly ripped one of his past songs off either. It isn't one of the most remembered songs of his now though, with the two preceding #1s being more remembered, and even the preceding #15 hit "Memories" holding up a lot better on streaming now (albeit helped by a TikTok fuelled revival and subsequent Guetta remix last year). The song also detracts a bit by having little time to breath with all the instrumental sections from the original being taken up by LMFAO's rap, although the original version does feel a bit too undercooked. It is a fun little song and the Fergie vocal certainly helps it along but again it's very much a song of its time. We will see David again in this thread shortly.

'Gettin' Over You' not heard this played for a long time, one of the forgettable #1s of the 2010s

Import it, import it, import it, import import import it :music:

 

(possibly mildly hot take but 'Gettin' Over You' is one of Guetta's better #1s imo, my 3rd fave after 'Club Can't Handle Me' and 'Titanium' I think).

Funny how “Dirtee Disco” being such a purple patch #1 for Dizzee he decides to use a mostly purple cover art for it.

It's a pretty bad song though and a blot on his discography (which I'm guessing he has largely disowned now)- the bit where he says ‘Disco Disco Disco Disco’ reminds me of when in 2 Unlimited's “No Limit” Ray says ‘Techno Techno Techno Techno’ though that was to remove the rap ‘I'm making techno and I am proud’ so maybe Dizzee should have said ‘I'm making disco and I am proud’.. Just a slight correction, I think it samples “Hangin' Out” by John Davis and the Monster Orchestra not The Staple Singers.

 

Import it, import it, import it, import import import it :music:

 

(possibly mildly hot take but 'Gettin' Over You' is one of Guetta's better #1s imo, my 3rd fave after 'Club Can't Handle Me' and 'Titanium' I think).

 

Although nothing beats “Grange Hill Can’t Handle Me”.